<p>At the age of 10, Oh Younghwan had no interest in samulnori, a genre of percussion music from South Korea, but nonetheless decided to take it up as an activity in school.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Now, with more than 30 years of experience in this genre which is performed with four traditional Korean musical instruments namely K’kwaenggwari (a small gong), Jing (a large gong), Janggu (an hourglass-shaped drum) and Puk (a barrel drum similar to the bass drum), the 45-year-old conducts samulnori workshops across the world. On the sidelines of the recently concluded performance of students at Korean Cultural Centre, in an email interaction with Metrolife, Younghwan tells Jayashree Narayanan more about samulnori, and how it is different from Western and Indian genres of music. <br />Excerpts:<br /><br />Tell us about samulnori.<br /><br />The term samulnori can be broken into two parts, “Samul” means “four things”, and “nori” means “to play”. Samulnori has its roots in farmer’s music (nong-ak), and includes not only music but dancing to celebrate harvest times. At first, it was known as Fungmulnori which meant play of folk instruments, and it was performed outdoors while standing and dancing among large crowds. <br /><br />In its modern incarnation, samulnori relies solely on four instruments, either in quartet or larger ensemble. However, even in larger groups, the role of each instrument is the same. Each one represents an element of nature — Jing is the wind, Janggu is the rain, Puk are <br /> the clouds, and K’kwaenggwari is the lightning. <br /><br />How is it different from other forms of Western and Indian percussion music?<br /><br />Every culture or nation has its own musical notes. Like India has ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’ and the West has ‘Do Re Mi Fa So’. But these musical notes do not exist in Korean music and cannot be used to express it. <br /><br />Korean music consists of Yin and Yang (positive and negative), which holds universal power. Samulnori is also comprised of negative and positive, which are soft and loud tones which represent the balance of power. <br /><br />Tell us about your workshop experience in India. Are Indian students interested in this genre of music?<br /><br />Students who are musically inclined are able to grasp samulnori easily, especially since <br />the Indian dhol is quite similar to it. Students of JBM Global School, Noida, who I taught were able to quickly grasp the samulnori notes, and some took time, but with regular practice for two weeks, they too were able to learn well. <br /><br />What is the scope of samulnori?<br /><br /> Every country has its own tradition that is expressed in their folk music. These days, samulnori is becoming popular as music composers are incorporating it into modern music. <br /></p>
<p>At the age of 10, Oh Younghwan had no interest in samulnori, a genre of percussion music from South Korea, but nonetheless decided to take it up as an activity in school.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Now, with more than 30 years of experience in this genre which is performed with four traditional Korean musical instruments namely K’kwaenggwari (a small gong), Jing (a large gong), Janggu (an hourglass-shaped drum) and Puk (a barrel drum similar to the bass drum), the 45-year-old conducts samulnori workshops across the world. On the sidelines of the recently concluded performance of students at Korean Cultural Centre, in an email interaction with Metrolife, Younghwan tells Jayashree Narayanan more about samulnori, and how it is different from Western and Indian genres of music. <br />Excerpts:<br /><br />Tell us about samulnori.<br /><br />The term samulnori can be broken into two parts, “Samul” means “four things”, and “nori” means “to play”. Samulnori has its roots in farmer’s music (nong-ak), and includes not only music but dancing to celebrate harvest times. At first, it was known as Fungmulnori which meant play of folk instruments, and it was performed outdoors while standing and dancing among large crowds. <br /><br />In its modern incarnation, samulnori relies solely on four instruments, either in quartet or larger ensemble. However, even in larger groups, the role of each instrument is the same. Each one represents an element of nature — Jing is the wind, Janggu is the rain, Puk are <br /> the clouds, and K’kwaenggwari is the lightning. <br /><br />How is it different from other forms of Western and Indian percussion music?<br /><br />Every culture or nation has its own musical notes. Like India has ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’ and the West has ‘Do Re Mi Fa So’. But these musical notes do not exist in Korean music and cannot be used to express it. <br /><br />Korean music consists of Yin and Yang (positive and negative), which holds universal power. Samulnori is also comprised of negative and positive, which are soft and loud tones which represent the balance of power. <br /><br />Tell us about your workshop experience in India. Are Indian students interested in this genre of music?<br /><br />Students who are musically inclined are able to grasp samulnori easily, especially since <br />the Indian dhol is quite similar to it. Students of JBM Global School, Noida, who I taught were able to quickly grasp the samulnori notes, and some took time, but with regular practice for two weeks, they too were able to learn well. <br /><br />What is the scope of samulnori?<br /><br /> Every country has its own tradition that is expressed in their folk music. These days, samulnori is becoming popular as music composers are incorporating it into modern music. <br /></p>
